URMSTON actress Faye Brookes is looking forward to a fairytale Christmas playing one of the leads in Shrek - The Musical.

Faye is to take one the role of Princess Fiona, the love interest of the lovable ogre in the show inspired by a string of hit movies starring Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz.

She's looking forward to spending the festive season in her home city of Manchester and said Fiona is a dream to play.

Faye said: "She's the most complex character I've ever come across but at the same time she's so much fun. You get to be a real princess and wear a pretty dress and all the make-up and sing beautiful songs. You get to burp with Shrek, giggle with Donkey. It's a character that everybody relates to - whether you're a girl or a boy."

Fans of the films won't be disappointed she promised and said the stage version is "the cherry on top of the cake."

She added: "You get all the fairytale creatures that you meet in the films live on stage with them singing and dancing about. You understand not just Shrek's story but everybody else's story."

In terms of the score, Faye said it's a mixture of the exciting and the inspirational and said "it's proper Broadway."

Faye added: "Our orchestra that travels around is doing the original score and it just sounds epic. When they rescue Princess Fiona from the tower and they have to battle the dragon it sounds like you're being transported to another realm. It's beautifully written."

She studied at what is now Knutsford Academy and said she wanted to go there after hearing good reports of the school's drama department. She furthered her acting training at Pendleton College and completed her studies at Guildford School of Acting.

But she's a versatile actress whose TV credits include Agnes Franklin in the new BBC period drama Oakfield and Helena in Atlantis, also for the BBC.

Faye said Shrek - The Musical is sure to appeal to all ages in the same way the film franchise did.

She said: "When we were in Oxford it was pensioners in the audience and they loved it. There are jokes in there for the adults that go right over the kids' heads."

* Shrek - The Musical is at the Palace Theatre from December 2 to January 11.